Buying Time 2014 - Texas

This page features state Supreme Court television advertisements from the 2014 election cycle.

March 18, 2014

Four seats on the Texas Supreme Court were up for election in 2014. Chief Justice Hecht defeated former state representative Robert Talton in the Republican primary on March 4. Bill Moody, a Democratic district judge from El Paso, and Tom Oxford, a Libertarian, challenged Justice Hecht in the general election. Hecht was victorious.

Sitting Justice Jeff Brown faced attorney Joe Pool in the Republican primary and won. Lawrence Meyers, a judge on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, was Brown's Democratic general election challenger. Libertarian Mark Ash also joined the race. Justice Brown won his race.

Justice Phil Johnson also won his Republican primary race, defeating appeals judge Sharon McCally. He was challenged by Democrat John Granberg and Libertarian Mark W. Bennett in November. Justice Johnson was reelected.

Incumbent Justice Jeff Boyd did not have a GOP challenger in the primary. He faced Democrat Gina Benavides, Libertarian Don Fulton, and Green Party member Charles E. Waterbury in the general election. Justice Boyd won his race.

Voter information groups "Texans for Justice" and "Hecht, No!" released an online video advertisement criticizing Chief Justice Hecht in advance of the March primary. The groups advocated for the election of Robert Talton, Sharon McCally, and Joe Pool, in addition to the reelection of Justice Jeff Boyd.

Primary election results can be found here, and general election results can be found here.

Methodology

All data on ad airings and spending on ads are calculated and prepared by Kantar Media/CMAG, which captures satellite data in the nation’s largest media markets. CMAG’s estimates do not reflect ad agency commissions or the costs of producing advertisements, nor do they reflect the cost of ad buys on local cable channels. Cost estimates are revised by Kantar Media/CMAG when it receives updated data, resulting in some fluctuations in the reported ad spending.